Record October wheatear count?

Heysham obs
Malcolm located 7 in a coastal trawl just after the rain finished with 5 together red nab and two Heysham head. Prompted a bit of canopy gazing, especially Heysham head but slim pickings

Heysham head pm
Chiffchaff - 1
Goldcrest - 5
Coal tit - at least 3
Tree creeper - at least one
Wheatear - 2

Red nab
Wheatear - 2 increasing to five red nab
Rock pipit - 1
Med gull - 3x 2cy, one adult

Yet another Yellow-browed Warbler in good fall conditions

Heysham Obs
Anyone own up to Goldcrest CXK886- a veritable pitfall of a potential misread!  It was treble-checked by two observers plus a magnifying glass 

Another Yellow-browed Warbler found by Jean Roberts this am and seen by Pete Marsh, but unfortunately flew over the top of the nets into the tank farm.  Quite a bit of early morning stuff (mostly Goldcrest) but then died off quickly, perhaps surprising for cloudy conditions and a species which usually lingers a bit but the wind of change was making itself felt by lunchtime

The other feature of the morning was a 'mutt meet' for bulldogs and large brown things - no prior knowledge of this and initially we wondered what on earth was going on!

Vis mig office area
Meadow Pipits in the cloud - grossly underestimated but not absolute hordes
Meadow Pipit - 42
alba Wagtail - 13
Lesser Redpoll - 3
Grey Wagtail - 1 plus a 'blogger'
Chaffinch - 15
Coal Tit - 3
Pink-footed Goose - 54+23+36

Grounded
Rock Pipit - north harbour wall
Wheatear - female Heysham Head
Goldcrest - 50ish on reserve
Chiffchaff - 5-8 reserve
Robin - small arrival
Treecreeper - 1
Blackcap - only one seen
Song Thrush - at least 3 migrants

Ringing on Heysham & Middleton NR (net not set in front of feeders to concentrate on migrants)
Goldcrest (44, including one ringed elsewhere), Chiffchaff (8, including bird ringed Leighton Moss), Blackcap (2), Robin (5), Chaffinch (1), Lesser Redpoll (18), Reed Bunting (1), Meadow Pipit (3)

Midddleton NR Vis
Meadow Pipit - 123
Pink-footed Goose - 48+60+32
Corvid sp. - 21 North

Another Yellow-browed Warbler morning

Heysham obs
A single call from the top path Heysham NR at 0725 remained unconfirmed with no 'spare' observers (from mist net duties) to follow it up.  A definite was caught and ringed Middleton NR at 0850 (see below) which then promptly disappeared.  However, a calling bird, seemingly in rapid transit, was heard by the two ringers at 1130hrs.  Different? - who knows, as it could not be seen

 



Grounded migrants Heysham/Middleton
Spotted Flycatcher - one showing well by Red Nab bushes
Yellow-browed Warbler - see above, only one confirmed individual
Goldcrest - c15
Chiffchaff - 8-10
Blackcap - at least 8 Middleton, only 3 seen HNR and area
Blackbird - one behaving like a continental migrant headed off high to SW
Song Thrush - one arrived from height and landed in some scrub HNR
As has been the case most of this week, despite plenty of Robin activity just after dawn no evidence of newly arrived migrants

Vis mig
Very hit and miss in the patchy fog
Jay - 1 S
Meadow Pipit - 89 SE
alba Wagtail - 10 SE
Grey Wagtail - 1 SEChaffinch - 6 S
Skylark - 1 SE
Siskin - heard x 3
Mistle Thrush - 4 high flyers - eventually SE
Jackdaw - 1 SW
Pink-footed Goose - large flock heard + 23 S
Long-tailed Tit - fairly excitable flock of 15 S mid-pm

Ringing Middleton/Heysham
Most of Chiffchaff Heysham, most of Blackcaps Middleton!
Blackcap (9), Chiffchaff (5), Yellow-browed Warbler (1), Goldcrest (8), Blue Tit (1), Meadow Pipit (3), Lesser Redpoll (1), Blackbird (2)

The bad news today was the perhaps inevitable, given the number of sightings and animals obviously using the mist net access paths, first 'trashing' of a superfine net by what must have been a Roe Deer

Insects
memo: male Black Darter photographed in the Nature Park two days ago - need to document (thanks Janice)

At least 15 Red Admiral and two Painted Lady flying south today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foggy thrash

Heysham Obs
Probably the best coverage this year was hampered by early morning fog.  Best birds were female Stonechat by the Moneyclose Lane anemometer and a Spotted Flycatcher on Heysham Head along the 'bramble track'.  Wanted:  birder to cover Heysham Head/Barrows daily during promising migration conditions

Heysham head
Spotted Flycatcher - 1
Blackcap - 3
Goldcrest - 5
Coal Tit - 14 arrived from north
Jay - two ditto

Vis mig Heysham Head (under canopy a lot of the time) 1000-1100:
Chaffinch - 7
Skylark - 5
Siskin - 2
Meadow Pipit - 15
alba Wagtail - 9

Red Nab bushes/coastal section of Middleton (thanks to Tom Wilmer)
Chiffchaff - 7
Blackcap - 2
Stonechat - female by anemometer

South harbour area/outfalls seawall
Rock Pipit - 3 (2 together)
Chiffchaff - one in firecrest brambles
Robin - 2
Kingfisher - one Heysham 2 outfall inner end for 5 minutes

North harbour wall mound area
Wren - 5
Robin - 5
Chiffchaff - 4 together in sea buckthorn
Meadow Pipit - 30
alba Wagtail - 16
Linnet - 19
Goldcrest - 1

Vis mig from coastal sites 0800-0920 intermittently
Meadow Pipit - 120  (including concentrated flightline along the wooden jetty
alba Wagtail - 35
Siskin - 2
Chaffinch - 2
Grey Wagtail - 3
Greylag - at least two SE

Vis mig Middleton
Meadow Pipit - 35
Redpoll - 3
Grey Wagtail - 3
Chaffinch - 6
alba Wagtail - 7
Jay - 1

Grounded Middleton
Goldcrest - 8 along edge of golf course
Coal Tit - 1+
Blackcap - at least 8

Combined ringing totals (new birds) -very slow in the fog
Blackcap (8), Lesser Redpoll (1), Coal Tit (1), Blue Tit (5), Wren (1), Blackbird (1), Meadow Pipit (3), Great Tit (1), Chiffchaff (3), Long-tailed Tit (3)

SEPTEMBER ringing totals = pretty good considering all the earlier season gloom and doom

1	Kingfisher
4	Sand Martin
114	Swallow
1	Tree Pipit
30	Meadow Pipit
78	Grey Wagtail
31	Wren
31	Dunnock
40	Robin
1	Song Thrush
4	Blackbird
2	Grasshopper Warbler
3	Sedge Warbler
13	Reed Warbler
8	Lesser Whitethroat
23	Whitethroat
1	Garden Warbler
79	Blackcap
1	Yellow-browed Warbler
85	Chiffchaff
20	Willow Warbler
85	Goldcrest
1	Firecrest
14	Long-tailed Tit
25	Coal Tit
45	Blue Tit
23	Great Tit
1	Treecreeper
6	Chaffinch
22	Greenfinch
100	Goldfinch
7	Lesser Redpoll
3	Bullfinch
19	Reed Bunting

Another Yellow-browed Warbler but Wwbt very elusive

Heysham Obs
A bit surprised today by people hoping to rapidly home in on YBW in bushes and trees without knowing the call.  The easiest one to connect with locally today was the Sunderland 'toilet block bird' and that was "easy" as it spent most of the time in one sycamore.  No problem!  Now find it (thanks Alan for the pic):

Field-craft comes in many forms and one of them is not to leave a Yellow-browed Warbler MP3 next to a sunny part of the mist net which is slightly catching the breeze.  Today's YBW was first seen hovering against a highly visible mist net then sitting on the tip of a bramble before flying into nearby willows.   It then appeared to fly towards the cream store/dipping pond area but 20 minutes later a call was heard from the bushes surrounding the pond up above the office and a couple of short views obtained.  Presumably the same bird which  was now having nothing to do with the tape.  It was heard calling further back in the edge of the tank farm at 1130, after which most of the birds went into quiet mode in the blazing sunshine

The other major highlight of the day was a Vapourer moth in its usual meandering flight near the top of some trees near the entrance gate - the first record for here

Nice to talk to a couple of dog walkers who had ditched the beasties for the morning and spent the time photographing the butterfly fest on the reserve.  As the available blossom dwindles, the Red Admirals in particular are targeting over-ripening blackberries, competing with wasps and all sorts of flies.  A circuit of the reserve saw far more butterflies than on any single day in June!

Distant late afternoon reports of the  White-winged Black tern with no sign during at least 5 hours worth of observation on the incoming tide.  Seemingly feeding offshore in the calm weather

Office area pre-dawn to 1100hrs
Vis
Meadow Pipit - 85
alba Wagtail - 24
Chaffinch - 25
Redpoll - 2
Grey Wagtail - 4 - all after 0930
Mistle Thrush - 3
Skylark - 4
Coal Tit - more difficult to be certain of duplication this morning but certainly 40-50 passed through south

Grounded
Yellow-browed Warbler - 1
Chiffchaff - 2
Song Thrush - 2

Reserve circuit pm
Absolutely dead with no warbler species recorded, suggesting, as does the lack of retraps, that there are no accumulations of birds in this weather and birds are landing, easily feeding up and moving on.  Might get some fairly rapid ringing recoveries although the weather down south is rather less mist-net friendly

Middleton
To be added

Combined ringing totals, Middleton and Heysham NR office
Coal Tit (10), Chiffchaff (4), Blue Tit (1), Dunnock (2), Robin (1), Reed Bunting (5), Blackcap (1), Lesser Redpoll (5), Wren (1), Goldcrest (3 Middleton - none seen or heard Heysham NR), Great Tit (1), Meadow Pipit (1)

Nearby
Yellow-browed Warblers found at Brows Farm, Sunderland and in the garden by the toilet block at Sunderland early on this morning

Butterflies on reserve circuit
Speckled Wood - 25, Red Admiral - 35, Comma - 1, Small White - 1, Small Tortoiseshell - 14, Peacock - 1, Painted Lady - 1, Silver Y - c30

Dragonflies at Middleton
Thanks for the pics Janet
Brown Hawker - getting a bit late for this species - possibly no previous October records - will check.  Thanks to Mark Nightingale for the pic of a very late Common Hawker in the Nature Park

Awkward Firecrest and wandering tern

Heysham Obs
Some seriously good pics from Janet - thanks:

 

Today saw a little more vis mig during the morning session but fewer grounded night migrants.  Coal Tits were in evidence and the vis mig highlights also included a flock of 8 Tree Sparrow, a flock of 7 Jay and a Collared Dove!  

 

Office area vis mig (S/SE unless stated)

Goldfinch - 24

Coal Tit - 25

Meadow Pipit - 196

Song Thrush - 1 flew west calling

Carrion Crow - flock of 4 S

Chaffinch - 21

Grey wagtail - 1

Jay - flock of 7 S, 1 S, 2 S 

Raven - flock of 3 NE

Dunnock - two singleton highflyers S

Collared Dove - 1 S - scarce of late on passage

Siskin - c5 S

Tree Sparrow - flock of 8 east, landing briefly

Bullfinch - 2 S - the first high-flying birds noted this autumn

Jackdaw - 15 N

Swallow - 4

 

Ringing Middleton and Heysham combined (new birds)

Wren (3), Chiffchaff (5), Goldfinch (1), Coal Tit (10), Great Tit (1), Greenfinch (2), Goldcrest (5), Meadow Pipit (2), Blackbird (2), Lesser Redpoll (2), Dunnock (1), Reed Bunting (2), Robin (1)

 

Heysham Head late afternoon 

Firecrest

Following up a strong claim of a Yellow-browed Warbler call from someone very familiar with the species, widening the search produced a series of 'insistent' calls in the canopy directly overhead on the Barrows.  This was followed over the next 25 minutes by two glimpses, one seeming to show some 'rust' on the shoulders but on neither of these views was the head visible.  Then another series of firm insistent calls, about 20 minutes after the first ones.  Then finally a brief glimpse which included the head and white supercilium.   To my horror, then realised my phone was dead - too many 'thank yous' to birthday wishes!  So sorry the news was a bit late being put out

 

Coastal

Cormorant - 151 wooden jetty

White-winged Black Tern - very mobile today including roosting amongst the juxtaposed sleepers on the wooden jetty amongst Turnstone/Redshank/large gulls

 

 

Butterflies

Amazing today with Red Admiral between 70 and 100, Small Tortoiseshell also all over the place including along the seawall by the wooden jetty and a few Painted Lady & Peacock, Comma with slightly worse for wear Speckled Wood all over the place.  A few whites and two worn Common Blue also seen.  Silver Y were also all over the place with eg 25-30 on the yellow buddleia by the office and many along the seawall

 

 

 

 

                                                             *******

So after all the xxxx of the summer/early autumn with awful local breeding success, dreadful ringing totals and complete lack of seabirds, what a month (with apologies to Leach's Petrel)!  A decent rarity, Firecrest and Yellow-browed Warbler already in the autumnal bag and really good numbers of migrants, especially Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and Blackcap, but also including well-above average numbers of out of habitat Reed Warbler and a decent sample of colour-ringed Grey Wagtail, despite incessantly sunny mornings shining on part of the catching net.  Latterly a minor Coal Tit irruption, with more ringed in the last week than the last two years put together 

Yellow-browed Warbler, White-winged Black tern and restless Coal Tits

Heysham Obs
Highlighted by a very early morning Yellow-browed Warbler and continuing presence of the White-winged Black Tern (although it appeared to fly north past the wooden jetty mid-afternoon - updates appreciated).  The circumstances were a bit bizarre.  I was setting a line of three nets by moonlight (plenty of it) with an MP3 in my pocket with Yellow-browed Warbler playing quietly, ready to raise the volume and stick on a branch next to the net when I had finished setting.  Then, whilst it was still virtually dark (pre-ticking Robin etc time), what sounded very much like a nearby response, then again!   The volume on the MP3 in my pocket was minimal, so there is no way this was a bird pulled down from the pre-dawn stratosphere.  A couple of shapes also flew into the nets as it they were being set (Blackcap and (long distance night migrant?!) unringed fat-less Dunnock).   Went back to ring these and the next round of the net saw a/the Yellow-browed Warbler neatly pocketed.

Then the agenda rapidly changed with clearing skies and the rest of the morning was very night-migrant free apart from three Chiffchaff (similar at Middleton) but a bit of vis mig kept the interest going, notably a minor Coal Tit irruption and a huge flock of migrant corvids.   So very, very fortunate to score with YBW on what was essentially a clear, moonlit early morning with just a few wisps of high cloud.  Focused on rather more why we need a new office building than the Yellow-browed Warbler, but you get the idea on the pic below.  Having real problems getting the pic to go right way round (photo Jean Roberts - sorry it isn't sharp, I-phone pic)     

 

 

Office area grounded

Blackcap - 3

Chiffchaff - 3-4

Yellow-browed warbler - 1

Dunnock - 1

 

Vis mig (tricky because of incessant harbour noise and the blue sky) HNR to 1030hrs

Meadow Pipit - 38

Grey Wagtail - 8 (5 of them after 1000 hours)

alba Wagtail - 72

Chaffinch - 33

Coal Tit - 44 S, largest group 11

Siskin - heard once

Jackdaw - 69 north

Rook - 30 north with above

Swallow - 2

Linnet - 5

 

Coastal

Little Gull - ad

White-winged Black Tern - ad until at least mid-afternoon

Med Gull - at least 6

 

Ringing combined Middleton/Heysham

Coal Tit (7), Yellow-browed Warbler (1), Blackcap (5), Chiffchaff (5), Goldcrest (3), Grey Wagtail (2), Wren (2), Blue Tit (5), Chaffinch (1), Dunnock (2), Reed Bunting (1), Meadow Pipit (3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Routine migrants in clear conditions plus the White-winged Black Tern for its third day

Heysham Obs
Nice flight shots taken by Janet this afternoon - thanks Janet

Not a bad day for ringing, but too clear to raise expectations of any Yellow-brows. Indeed the night migrants were almost all early on in rapid transit.  Vis mig was its usual tricky self in the clear blue sky, not helped by a lot of traffic noise and the figures are an indication of ratios rather than anything definitive.  There was clearly a decent movement of alba wagtails and more noisy high-flying southbound Coal Tit.

Vis mig (mostly by the office)
Meadow Pipit - 64
Skylark - 3
alba Wagtail - 59
Woodpigeon - 14
Chaffinch - 28
Grey Wagtail - 9
Dunnock - 2 set off high to south
Mistle Thrush - 1 east
Coal Tit - 14 logged, probably more
Siskin - 3
Swallow - 2
Pink-footed Goose - c300 south just before dawn, no diurnal movement in morning

Outfalls/Red Nab
White-winged Black tern - reappeared on the outfalls mid-morning as the tide came in
Med Gull - at least 6 (5 x 2CY, 1 x Ad)
Little Gull - adult seen early on

Grounded
In addition to ringing totals, at least 4 Goldcrest by the office, 4 Blackbirds behaving like (early) migrants and two Song Thrush descending from height into bushes also appearing to be migrants
Reed Warbler - the most notable grounded passerine, given time of year, was trapped/ringed by the office

Ringing Middleton and Heysham NR (new birds)
Grey Wagtail (4), Blackcap (10), Chiffchaff  (7), Goldcrest (6), Robin (2), Wren (3), Reed Warbler (1), Reed Bunting (4), Coal Tit (6), Lesser Redpoll (1), Great Tit (2), Blue Tit (2), Meadow Pipit (1)

White winged black, dodgy falcon and Goosander

Heysham obs
A bit slow first thing in the almost, but not quite, first light frost. Then things got going and produced some interesting sightings, none more so that that very tricky Heysham Patchwork species, Goosander. The White-winged Black Tern reappeared mid morning and subsequently on and off into the afternoon and just prior to that a large sandyish falcon with 'pale around the head' was chased east by one of the local peregrines - seemingly a saker or similar crossbreed.  Ringing at the Heysham NR was predictably slow but Middleton was surprisingly good for a clear morning with a huge reddish moon!

Thanks to Colin Davies for two more pics from yesterday

Coastal
White-winged Black Tern - appeared about 0950 and showed on and off until at least 1330 at least including roosting on the wooden jetty and feeding on Heysham 2 outfall
Saker-type falcon - not as far as we know one of the gull-scaring birds from the Power Station - flew SE prompted by a bit of noisy aggro with the local Peregrine.  A "large sandy bird with a pale head"
Goosander - two female types on the sea at the southern end of Ocean Edge
Little Gull - usual adult seen
Med Gull - 12 Red Nab

Office area
Grounded
Chiffchaff x 3, Goldcrest x 3, Blackcap x 1, Whitethroat x 1

Vis mig
Notable was a southbound flock of 14 Coal Tit and at least 27 southbound Red Admiral
alba Wagtail - 38
Chaffinch - 28
Grey Wagtail - 8
Siskin - heard 5 times!
Pink-footed Goose - at least 1870 (c1000 in one afternoon flock0
Swallow - 8
Redpoll spp - 2
Meadow Pipit - just 36
Coal Tit - 2+14
Mistle Thrush - flock of 6
Carrion Crow - 3+2
Linnet - 1
Skylark - 4
presumed escape Falcon spp - headed off SE 0940

Ringing office area
Whitethroat (1), Blackcap (1), Chiffchaff (3), Goldcrest (3), Grey Wagtail (1), Great Tit (2)

Middleton
Blackcap (13), Goldcrest (9), Wren (5), Chiffchaff (6), Reed Bunting (3), Lesser Redpoll (3), Grey Wagtail (2), Blue Tit (2), Dunnock (2), Robin (2), Willow Warbler (1), Great Tit (1), Chaffinch (1)

Butterflies
A really good number around included a single worn Wall Brown by the slipway on Ocean Edge and at least 27 Red Admiral south - also a suggestion that Small Tortoiseshell were on the move with 2-3 flying past the outfalls along the seawall.  Worn Common Blue by the office

Moulting adult White-winged Black Tern!

Heysham Obs
A long, long overdue first for Heysham following a distant claim in the offshore channel in about 1974 which was rejected!  Kingfisher was a nice bonus on Red Nab late morning and a first of the year - perhaps also the one ringed earlier in the morning at Middleton

Thanks to Chris Batty for these afternoon pics and see below with further thanks for Colin Davies shots in the morning:

Outfalls/Red Nab
White-winged Black Tern - moulting adult Heysham 2 outfall on the incoming tide, first seen about 0830 a mile away on Heysham one outfall looking from Ocean Edge (and misidentified as a juv on the brief upperside views) but not able to stay and follow up.  Later views were still distant but closer on Heysham 2 outfall and underwing views clearly indicated a moulting ad (which is why, in retrospect, I mistook it for the regular Little Gull when initially glimpsed it banking at very long range with binoculars).  Showing well in flight and at rest (on Red Nab) late morning before returning to the region of Heysham two outfall where it alternated periods of feeding with resting on mudflats or, at one time, on seaweed covered rock until at least 1730hrs
Med Gull - up to 6 reported
Kingfisher - one appeared late morning on Red Nab

Vis mig office/offshore
Pink-footed Goose - approximately 1250 S/SE (but see below)
Grey Wagtail - 6
Chaffinch - 15
Meadow Pipit - none early on then a trickle

Grounded office area
Chiffchaff - 2
Goldcrest - 6

Ringing
Ringing curtailed by discovery of the Tern, therefore only the following trapped:
Goldcrest (3), Chiffchaff (2), Robin (1+1R), Grey Wagtail (1), Wren (1).

Thanks to Colin Davies for the pics

Middleton NR

Pink-footed Goose - parties of 90+80+40+90 seen well to the east of the reserve, flying south

Ringing

Blackcap (6), Chiffchaff (5), Robin (7), Wren (1), Goldcrest (8), Reed Bunting (5), 

Grey Wagtail (4), Goldfinch (2), Long-tailed Tit (3+4R), Coal Tit (1), Blue Tit (5+3R), Dunnock (3), Kingfisher (1), Greenfinch (1).   (ajd/jm/jb)